Rising senior Tricia Liston is playing for the USA Basketball World University Games Team that is playing in Kazan, Russia from July 8-15. It is Liston’s first experience playing for a USA Basketball team, following a standout junior campaign where she drained a school-record 80 three-pointers and ranked third nationally in three-point field goal percentage (46.5%).

KAZAN, Russia -- After four games of pool play, we are standing strong with a record of 4-0. By dominating our pool, we put ourselves in a position to compete for a gold medal. Next up is the semifinals and I am so anxious and excited to get started.

We have to take it game by game, win, and earn another chance to get closer to the end game. It is an awesome opportunity to know that a gold medal is within reach. Each player on this team is determined and has the same end goal and expectation, a gold medal. This is what we have trained and worked for our entire lives and now it has become a reality.

Our team has been together just under three weeks and I have already built relationships with so many people that I never imagined. We have grown together on the court and developed true team chemistry. But off the court, we mesh, joke around and have a lot of fun. I know we will stay in touch further down the line.

The village here is hard to describe because how unbelievable it is. It is somewhat comparable to a college campus, but full of every country and sport that there is, from rugby to swimming to field hockey. There are golf carts that drive you around campus, a huge cafeteria and a garden area where every country’s flag is represented. I am so blessed and lucky that my parents were able to make the trip and experience this with me. There are no better people that I would want to share this experience with.

We plan to make the most of experience here in Russia while playing with intensity and pride to represent our country. Starting medal rounds, the stakes are higher and the pressure rises. But I believe that with this team, we will rise to the occasion and have fun doing it. Words hardly describe the opportunity that I have been given here with team USA and I feel very fortunate to be a part of something so great. But there is plenty of work that still has to be done here in Russia before I can return to my teammates at Duke.

One of the most difficult things about being here has been missing my teammates from home. I had to make a major adjustment to playing with different players and knowing their tendencies and playing for a new coach. I know my teammate and coaches s at home are all supporting me from the states and it means more than anything knowing that they are following me. They are all hard at work in North Carolina and I cannot wait to be reunited and get to back to that Duke Grind with my team!